DHS calls furloughed employees back to work amid shutdown

Furloughed Department of Homeland Security staff are being called back to work amid a partial government shutdown.

A notice sent to employees Friday instructed “all excepted and non-excluded/non-exempt DHS employees” to report “for duty and paid status, beginning on your next regularly scheduled work day,” which for most will be Monday, according to multiple reports.

“Employees who are unable to report to work on their next scheduled work day must request time off and receive approval from their supervisors,” the message states. “Employees who do not follow this process may be subject to administrative or disciplinary action. »

The notice references President Trump’s executive order directing the department to use One Big Beautiful Bill Act funds to pay employees, including furloughed staff, the equivalent of compensation lost during the record partial shutdown.

“DHS is using available funds to ensure employees are paid,” the memo said. “If the department exhausts currently available funds before a FY 2026 appropriation is enacted, you will receive further notification of your employment status at that time.”

A department spokesperson blamed Democrats for the partial shutdown, adding that Secretary Markwayne Mullin “will use available funds to recall the entire DHS workforce to get our patriotic employees back to work.”

The spokesperson added in the statement: “Their paychecks are being processed and employees may already be seeing this money deposited. The easiest way to ensure that the hardworking men and women at DHS get paid in the future is for Democrats to reopen DHS immediately.”

DHS has been closed since February 14, with Congress unable to agree on a compromise to end the funding gap.

Lawmakers have yet to agree on a funding measure for fiscal year 2026, as Democrats seek to make changes to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, including on Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mr. Trump’s expulsion campaign has angered Democrats, who are refusing to fund the department until a compromise is reached.

While most DHS employees were deemed essential and remained on duty, thousands more were furloughed. However, ICE agents are largely unaffected by the shutdown, having received their full salaries from the GOP’s 2025 reconciliation bill.